What do you think is the biggest barrier to breastfeeding In Australia?

**~Kim~** · May 23rd, 2007, 03:57 PM

Another conflicting advice vote here - the midwives in the private hospital I was at ALL had different views. You'd think in a ward they would have a uniform policy. Can you push for that Kelly?

I was really lucky to have a fantastic MCHN who got me onto an equally fantastic LC - and we're still going today. I battled with cracks, mastitis, huge flow, non sucking, bad latching, PND, a MIL who told me I was undernourishing my baby (WTF?!?!) but I kept going with my DH, LCs and Mum's support. However I do believe that inital consistent education would have been a better start.

**Roryrory** · May 23rd, 2007, 04:07 PM

JMO, but if there was more education I think conflicting advice wouldn't be as much of an issue. I had lots of conflicting advice but saw it all as a variety of options to choose that were right for me and my bub, rather than the right vs the wrong way to do something, IYKWIM....

But Kim I know what you mean about the need for a uniform policy

jbie · May 23rd, 2007, 04:16 PM

i voted lack of education, cos though all the other factors are totally significant, with enough education (and then support) one can trump them all

**Phteven** · May 23rd, 2007, 04:20 PM

I think that uniform policy is a great idea.
At Westmead the midwives who had extra training in lactation (and other issues) had it on thier badges under thier names so they were easy to identify.
I think hospitals need more LCs on staff and I think that a LC should visit each Mum and Bub the same way that the paed, physio and hearing people do. It's silly that the pead comes to you but the LC doesn't.
Maybe if they did this they could identify the women who genuinly can't BF quickly so that they can move onto plan B (expressing &/or formula) ASAP with a minimum of pain, fuss and guilt.

**Nikki_M** · May 23rd, 2007, 04:21 PM

I'm a bit of a lurker.. and haven't read this post through but I just wanted to put my 2-cents in. I hope that I'm not too bold in saying this.

But other than the lack of knowledge and the publics view of public breastfeeding.. I think a huge part is how every tries to be PC... so as not to offend anyone we don't always push the benefits of breastfeeding. We *know* that Breast is Best but often when said in a group of mothers, we're met with scowls, or "you're only saying that because you can do it" etc. It sucks that, in our efforts to keep everyone happy, we have to keep quiet all the benefits because people who didn't breastfeed get upset.

Lest we remind people that breastfeeding is what the boobs were made for.

**Liz** · May 23rd, 2007, 05:05 PM

When I mention that Oscar can feed for as long as he likes, some people say "what if you fall pregnant again?", and they are confused when I reiterate "for as long as he likes", because they are under the impression that feeding must cease when pregnant. That's an education issue.

Not to mention that people are shocked that you CAN fall pregnant whilst breastfeeding! When will people learn that it's not an effective contraceptive?? LOL

But I completely agree. I'm facing this almost every day, and it's tiring

Everyone is expecting me to wean, and are shocked when I say he can feed until he doesn't want it anymore. Mum is slowly putting the pressure on, I think she can't fathom the whole tandem feeding thing. Personally, I'd love Tallon to keep feeding beyond the pregnancy, I'd love for the both of them to share feeding together. If anything I think it would REDUCE jealousy issues, coz he CAN have booby as well as the baby!

Education and just general awareness of these things is crucial. I don't want to sound like I'm blowing my own trumpet, but sometimes I feel like a bit of a pioneer amongst our peers, because I was determined not to have pain relief in labour (nobody believed that was possible and thought I was kidding myself), I KNEW I was going to breastfeed come hell or highwater (but received the "but don't worry if you can't, formula is ok" comments) I even got scoffed at for wanting to use cloth nappies! However, I have achieved each of these things, and seeing our friends and family realise oh, it CAN be done is just a great feeling. Now of course I'm copping it for feeding during a pregnancy. I must admit I put pressure on myself not to fail at these things, coz I know that my doing these things is "educating" my friends, and hopefully they'll stop blurting things out like "oh you can't feed through pregnancy" coz they'll now know someone who has and that it's possible iykwim. Of course if Tallon weans during the pg well, nothing I can do about that! LOL. But I feel like I'm doing my bit by making things work, and helping my friends see that it's possible.

Gosh I hope that didn't all just come across wrong. I'd like to make it clear that none of it has been that easy, and that I'm continually learning.. but I'm proud that we've fed as successfully as we have, and that my being open about it with friends is helping them too. My biggest hope is that all the horrible discouraging comments that they made to me during my pregnancy, won't be in their vocab anymore when it's time for their daughters to have babies.

**kyliealysha** · May 23rd, 2007, 04:48 PM

I hear so many women saying they wanted their babies to sleep through the night so they switched to formula

It's such a myth too as my fully breastfed baby slept 12 hours a niight from 2 months old. The problem is that there are a lot of well meaning family and friends out there spreading this myth further and further.

**hannahfroodoo** · May 24th, 2007, 04:17 PM

I hear so many women saying they wanted their babies to sleep through the night so they switched to formula

It's such a myth too as my fully breastfed baby slept 12 hours a niight from 2 months old. The problem is that there are a lot of well meaning family and friends out there spreading this myth further and further.

I too had a fully breast fed baby who slept 12 hours a night before 3 months of age. In my mother's group, I have heard discussions about trying baby out on a bottle of formula before bed in the hopes that this is what will get them sleeping through. It is a huge myth.

On the education topic - Yes, there is a lot of advertising out there for the 'Breast is Best' campaign. and I think that advertising is good and necessary BUT there is a lack of education on the how-to side. Not just 'this is how you do it' but 'this is what you do and where you turn if you have problems.'
I didn't even know LCs existed until my DD was a week old.
I love the idea of having a LC come to see you prior to discharge from hospital just as you can't discharge until the OB and peadeatrician have seen you, you should have to see the LC too.

I always thought everyone KNEW that BF is better for baby than FF - but I had a friend who told me (in my vulnerable state when DD was 1 week old and I was having BF problems) "these days, FF is just as good as BF. They put all the nutrients into formula that your baby needs."
If you want to/need to FF your baby, there is no problem with that. And your baby will still be happy and healthy. However, I think there is a problem with believing that FF is equivalent to BF in terms of what is good for your baby.

Let's face it - BF IS hard. And FF can be so much more convenient - you don't have to wait to find a quiet spot, you can whip the bottle out without stopping what you're doing and no one looks twice. If we DON'T consistently seek to educate people that BF is better for baby, where is the motivation to do it? Why wouldn't you just FF straight up?

As Liz said:
I've seen posted on these boards "no-one can tell me that breastmilk has all the ingredients that are listed on the tin of formula". OMG - no it certainly doesn't. It has far more than what's on the tin, and far less of the bad stuff that's on the tin (ie sugar)

100% agree. People forget that there are ingredients in breastmilk which science can't even isolate and identify - let alone replicate.

**BellyBelly** · May 23rd, 2007, 04:55 PM

Please don't be afraid of being honest, I am specifically after everyone's personal opinions of their own experiences not a debate or discussion over what someone else has said, and that will be removed if it happens.

I would love to be able to go to parliament and say, 'this is what is happening, this is how they feel, this is what they want.'

There is no right or wrong, what you feel is the key thing here because they want to know what they can do to help, so they need to know the problems you are facing. I really appreciate your open honesty and I will protect that.

**rylansmum** · May 23rd, 2007, 05:05 PM

I think it is the fact that women think it will all happen within the first couple of days...(i actually thought the first couple of hours ) and when it doesnt they feel as though they have failed (i know i did).
I got so stressed that i couldnt breastfeed i was a hysterical mess and gave up after 2 weeks because DS wasnt latching on correctly and i had terribly cracked nipples.
Having only 4 weeks to go with DD i have done alot more research and asked for refferals to breastfeed clinics and lactation consultants.

no3onboard · May 23rd, 2007, 05:39 PM

My daughter(baby #3) turns 2 months old today. And I am a membe of another online community which isgrouped by birth month, so I am presently privy to several "new mums" and their journeys with breastfeeding experiences, plus myown experiences and general awareness since I became a Mum in 1999. With the "other forum" I participate in (March 2007) I am surprised/saddened at the number of Mums giving/given up feeding already.

I had various signicant early feeding difficulties with my 1st baby (recently turned 8) and despite the advice of midwives to bottle feed (while still in hospital) I refused to supplement with formula and went on to breastfeed him for 2.5 years, and he gained weight beautifully too. I think what got me through the early weeks of difficuly was my absolute desire to breastfeed because I knew if was best - by far. I had had a difficult birth, and there was no way I was going to muck up breastfeeding as well.

So I would have to nominate lack of education, purely because I think just about all women are aware "breast is best", but despite this awareness many, many women also believe that artificial feeding is also 'fine'/'almost as good'/'better for their sanity'/'beats sleeplessness'/'okay to do when breastfeeding is hard'. We often hear "I was bottlefed and I'm fine" etc. And, "He had three days/weeks/months of breastmilk, so that's better than nothing." And while it is better than nothing, it would be great if mothers were highly motivated to breastfeed long term.

I also think that health professionals, when faced with a tired, tearful, sick (mastitis the third time) mothers often 'take pity' despite their training. Goodness only knows I probably would too. It must be hard to say "Yes, I know, but in three more weeks everything will be fine, these days of cracked nipples/poor weight gain/bouts of mastitis will be a fading memory" to a woman presenting sick/tearful/afraid/exhuasted.

Here's my list of reasons in order...

Lack of education (inspiration)
Health professionals
Accessibility of artificial milk
Family and friends advice (esp grandmothers and partners)
Conficting Advice/Lack of continuity of care (though this may be a blessing depending on care)
Lack of availability/affordabiilty of support
Interventions at birth
Going back to work bf support
Marketing fo artificial milk

Thanks for the opportunity to contribute.

Regards - Jo
Mother of three, long-term breastfeeder and since March '07, a homebirther too!

**SallyJ** · May 23rd, 2007, 05:47 PM

It's hard to single out just one - I eventually settled for lack of support going back to work, because that's where a lot of people I know have come unstuck. I think education is important too, and on reflection it's probably the crux of the problem.

For me it's a no-brainer and worth the effort, but some people seem to think it is all too hard.

**Ca Plane Pour Moi** · May 23rd, 2007, 06:37 PM

Oooh no, the night midwives were better - the day midwife was a b*tch though. It was a nighttime midwife who spend a couple of hours sat with me helping to get DS on where everyone else ignored the issue and pushed formula. Everyone told me I was holding DS wrong, so tried to adjust him - he feeds best the way I instinctivly held him, still feeds like that now. He doesn't do the latch-on mouth either, taking him off because he didn't do the mouth was unhelpful - we just needed to trust each other that I'd not mess around with his feeds and he'd feed fine.

I'm very lucky that our special care until were fab too - they promoted expressed milk when DS needed an NG tube and encouraged me to not have him in the nursery when the tube came out - not that I needed encouragement!

I agree with a lot of PPs - why do FF mummies tell BF mummies pre-baby that BF is too hard and discourage us? What if BF mummies told off and mocked FF mummies?

**Liz** · May 23rd, 2007, 07:09 PM

Yep - night time staff were awful. Ringing the buzzer was a waste of time - it was always the temp nurses, not even midwives and lc's! I reported it to my OB who has a large stake in the hospital, dunno if he's done anything about it. Admittedly I could walk down to the nursery and see an LC (well, that's if she was there), but it's much more private to be helped in your own room!

kezzza4 · May 23rd, 2007, 07:29 PM

I think there's a definite lack of education of breastfeeding & how to do it!!!!!! Yes, I did attend antenatal classes but the one on breastfeeding was deferred & I'd given birth by then!!!!
I was extremely naive thinking that it was natural & that there was nothing to it at all. Raised on a farm watching calves & lambs & kittens & puppies..............I mean, no one shows them how to do it!!!!! It's completely 100% natural!!!!!
I had the birth from hell................I had PPH [post partum haemorrhage] losing at least 2.5 litres of blood immediately after delivery. I was in no physical condition whatsoever to breastfeed. I was literally unable to even lift my own finger!!!
36 hours later I was given 2 units of blood ie. blood transfusion however I believe I could have done with twice that amount.
Because of everything that had happened I was induced, dd was born 15 days early etc she was also jaundiced & I think around day 4 or 5 had to go into an isolette. I also moved from the birthing hospital back to my 'home' hospital [bad mistake that was].
The midwives at the first hospital gave conflicting advice as to what to do. I had huge probs with dd latching properly. Please also remember I was battling to even hold my own newborn baby!!!!!!
As previously mentioned, moving back to my 'home' hospital was something we really lived to regret. DD wasn't gaining weight & we were having ongoing issues with her latching pretty much refusing my left breast altogether. One '*****' of a midwife kept on giving her water!!!!!!!!!! As if that was helping us!!!!! Later on I told her to stop giving her water & she went off at me saying that as far as she was concerned I was starving my child!!!!!!!!!! And yet she was the ***** giving her water all the time!!!!!
Pretty much everything had gone wrong it really had. For those of you who don't know, aren't aware, after having PPH there IS genuine difficulty re breastfeeding for obvious reasons. Your body has been through hell literally!!!
For us there was lack of sleep, lack of support, lack of care............honestly the midwives/nurses were pretty much no use at all. I loved one of the night nurses though with midwife experience. She was honest & down to earth & said to me during the early hours one morning when I was having probs yet again with Krystalee feeding from the left breast...............that she'd had the same thing with her own son & actually continued to feed from the one breast only. And, it wasn't a problem at all!!! She also said the sooner I could get home to my own routine the better.
I was in 'jail' for 10 days!!!!!!!!! I was that stressed out about my ability to breastfeed at home, alone...........that I even bought gear to express etc. The funny thing was, the minute we were home dd fed from my left breast!!!!!!!!!!
I had midwives grabbing at my nipples...........telling me to do this...........hold dd like that etc etc etc. 99% of them didn't 'consider' what I'd been through & why I was having so many problems & combined with a jaundiced baby [they like to sleep all the time] we of course were having many many issues to deal with. The 1 night nurse whom I did like even said to me, in years gone by, I would have been 1 of those women who actually died from childbirth!!!
I wish 'all' midwives not just some of them, had compassion & understanding. I don't really care that they do this day in & day out. It's their job. I don't care that some women have absolutely no problems breastfeeding & therefore supposedly all women should be the same.........'cos we're not!!!! We're all individuals & we're all unique. We shouldn't be made to feel guilty, like failues, like there's something wrong with us etc if we are experiencing probs with breastfeeding.
BTW, I went on to breastfeed for 18 months!!!! For the first 3 months I felt like quitting every single day. It was painful. It was hard. It was time consuming. I was extremely drained & in poor physical condition. Extremely sleep deprived, in the first few weeks, having to breastfeed 24/7 every single 3 hours 'cos of dd's jaundice.
Without my husband's support, he was actually my carer in hospital I would never have made it!!! He was my rock & my only rock!!!! DD made the decision to wean at 18 months. After everything that I'd been through I would have kept going for much longer if she had wanted it!!!!
I also miss it now!!!! Once she stopped breastfeeding so often & for so long, probably once solids started at 6 months, it was definitely a lot more enjoyable. There is a distinct lack of support & respect towards breastfeeding mothers in society!!!
OK enough from me!!!!!!! I've probably gone off-track a bit here & there, but I suppose the main thing is more education, more 'consistency' with what midwives say & do, more support & more compassion & empathy!!!
Kerry

**Bathsheba** · May 23rd, 2007, 07:46 PM

Yep, night nurses weren't as helpful in my experience either.... that applies to when I was in hospital for other reasons (knee surgery) as well. That was probably a bit off topic but I also just wanted to say that I agree with uniformity of advice as well... I know every mum is different but there should at least be an agreed-upon set of successful strategies to use with mums who are having difficulty with feeding... at the moment it seems like this just doesn't exist.

I'm also really starting to feel curious as to what a full-on BFing education campaign could achieve... you know, with schools/ TV commercials/ popular magazine notices etc... not just the current posters and booklets but a more mass media presence. Would people simply get defensive? Could it really make a difference? Think about other community education campaigns: smoking/drink driving/domestic violence... how effective have they been? I'm not saying they have or have not been effective but how long would it take to make a difference? A generation? I guess incorporating BFing education into the school curriculum would have the greatest chance of success in changing the current trends... (just thinking aloud at this point). What I would love to see also is the de-sexualisation of breasts for the BFing mum... but how on earth can we dismantle generations of voyerism of breasts for a "bit of a thrill".... but I guess I'm just sick of sex being thrust (excuse the pun) at us all the time... it's so damaging for us as a society on so many levels.

**maz** · May 23rd, 2007, 07:57 PM

My gf's and I had this discussion not long ago. We thought that the reason a lot of 'mummys' dont bf is due to the shortened length of stay in hospital (12 hours in some cases).
eg
When I had NIkolaus I was out within 3 days after having an emergancy c/s after a long 23hour labour. I was confussed, lacked the support of so called health professions and felt very depressed about what had happened. I also had no milk and dint realise that it came in around day 3 -4. Hench, I didnt BF and choice to FF instead.
Wilhelm,...hm I thought, IM not going down the same road again, had loads of milk and yet the nurses failed to help me bf. another ff baby.
Vyolett, I demanded that I got Vy in recovery and put her straight on my boob. I had the best midwife possible. I voiced my concerns about not being able to bf my 2 boys and she helped me all the way. She sat with me for hours and helped me with gentle words and motivating praise. I stayed in hospital for 5 days and the whole time my midwife pushed for me to stay until I could bf Vy correctly and felt comfortable within myself.
I managed to bf Vy for one month when I got mastites in both bb's and decided through lack of community MCHN support that i could no longer do 'this'.
Does that mean im going to not try for my fourth? NO WAY! my goloshies will be hauled out and made to do what the great man invented them to do.
Do you know who has supportived me the whole way through my bf experience with Vy???? All the wonderful girls on Belly belly, thats who.
Mauw